A member of the House of Representatives representing Abi/Yakurr Federal Constituency, Honourable Alex Egbona, has been sacked on Wednesday by the Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Calabar, the Cross River State capital.
Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Honourable John Gaul-Lebo, had filed a suit challenging the victory of Egbona of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the February 23, 2019 election and had asked the court to nullify it on the ground of “massive irregularities”.
Gaul-Lebo, the former Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly, had also contended that Egbona was not the lawful candidate of APC.
Delivering judgment in the petition with number EPT/CAL/HR/11/2019 on Wednesday, chairman of the three-man tribunal, Justice Vincent Agabata, declared that as of February 23, 2019, Egbona was not qualified to contest the election.
He maintained that the votes scored in the election by Egbona were “defiant votes and therefore invalid and unlawful”.
Justice Agbata therefore ruled that John Gaul-Lebo scored the highest number of valid votes in the election, so the certificate of return issued to Egbona was an error and should be withdrawn forthwith and issued to the PDP candidate.